IPTV subscribers to triple

The number of homes paying for IPTV is predicted to rocket to 165 million by end-2017, up from 51 million at end-2011 and from only 7.5 million at end-2007, according to a new report from Digital TV Research (DTVR).

The Global IPTV Forecasts report estimates that China will supply 77 million (47 per cent) of the 2017 total, up from only 14 million (28 per cent) in 2011 and only 350,000 (5 per cent) at end-2007.

“Some may be surprised to see the USA in second place by 2017 [with 14.4 million subs]. US telcos are aggressively marketing their IPTV products, with both FiOS and U-verse appearing in the top 10 pay TV operators,” noted report author Simon Murray.

Of the 114 million subscribers to be added between 2011 and 2017, 86 million will be from the Asia Pacific region – or three-quarters of the new subscribers. India will supply 7.2 million more IPTV subscribers, up from a very low base at end-2011.

Global IPTV penetration only reached 3.7 per cent of TV households at end-2011, although this was up from 0.6 per cent at end-2007. By end-2017, IPTV penetration will grow to 10.8 per cent. Penetration will remain low in Latin America and Middle East and Africa.

DTVR suggests penetration will be as high as 14 per cent in the Asia Pacific region by 2017, led by Singapore (43 per cent) and Hong Kong (38 per cent). The UAE (41 per cent) will buck its region’s trend.

IPTV revenues will climb to US$21.3 billion in 2017, up from US$9.7 billion in 2011 and US$1.5 billion in 2007. The US will remain the largest IPTV revenue earner by taking a third of the 2017 total (down from 41 per cent in 2011).

From the US$11.6 billion additional revenues to be created between 2011 and 2017, the US will provide US$3.0 billion. The Asia Pacific region will contribute an extra US$5.0 billion, led by China (US$1.8 billion more) and Japan (US$1.6 billion). France will drop from second place in 2011 to fourth in 2017. However, Russia will rocket to fifth place in 2017.